Kitsune: A Tailsish Fanfic
by WingedHippocampus
Summary: Tails is kidnapped to the Land of the Rising Sun, and his friends must go after him. SatAm universe with Archie touches, mostly on appearances. Despite the title, the other characters get plenty of action, it's not just about Tails.
1. Drowning

Summary: Tails is kidnapped by a mysterious faction, and he may learn something about his own origins, but is it the truth? SatAm cast and continuity, Archie/SatAm blended personalities/appearances.

Characters in this chapter: Sonic, Antoine, Sally, Bunnie, Tails.

Note1: I often write fanfiction in such a way that even those who have never heard of the fandom can understand it. This is not one of those times. If you're interested anyway, by all means, read on. Note2: Enjou is my Mobian stand-in for Japan, invented by my RP partner. I know that Australia has a Mobian equivalent, Downunda, but if a Japan analog has ever been mentioned, I've never heard of it, so I'm just using what Nikki came up with. Note3: I am not using the brown colored, original SatAm design of Tails. This fact becomes important later. Note4: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE bring any spelling or formatting errors to my attention. This goes for all chapters.

Kitsune

by Wingedhippocampus  
Chapter 1: Drowning

"Help!" cried Sonic in absolute panic, "He's trying to _kill me_! Antoine's gone nuts! Get me outta here!"

"He's trying to keep you from _being_ killed, Sonic," Sally sighed, rolling her eyes at him before pulling off her boots and settling at the sandy edge of the lake. It was a fine, early autumn day, and the water was still tolerably warm. The first few cold nights had caused some of the trees to edge themselves with warm colors, though green yet prevailed, and the breeze that ruffled her fur was warm. Bunnie sprawled comfortably beside her, semi-mechanical body gleaming in the sunlight, and both turned their eyes to the spectacle in the lake.

"Eef you are hearing what I am saying, Soneek, you will not be having ze trouble!" Antoine said impatiently.

"Why do I have to learn to swim? I'm just fi-" Sonic demanded loudly just before going under, and Antoine had to fish the blue hedgehog off the bottom of the lake yet again.

"It would be pointless to lose you to such a preventable thing as drowning, that's why," Sally replied, meticulously smoothing her deep red hair as she spoke, "…and besides, it's an important life skill."

"S'true, Sugarhog," Bunnie called, "mah Daddy wouldn't let none of us younguns get past five years old without knowin' how ta stay above water."

"Fine, but why Antoine? Whoever said I wanted to be manhandled by a fruity, wet, smelly, naked dog? Mega-gross. Isn't Rotor a better choice? Or better yet, one of you babes, I would-" Sonic went under again, and this time, an annoyed Antoine waited a few extra seconds to retrieve him.

"Canines are natural born swimmers, Sonic," Sally told him as he was dredged back up. "Rotor is a pinniped, they use entirely different mechanics for swimming than most other mammals. Bunnie and I tried teaching you already, remember? You don't keep your attention…and your eyes…where they belong, and that's no way to learn. Antoine is your swimming teacher. Now, as you would say, 'chill out and deal with it'".

"Aww, come on Sal, have a heart!" Sonic coughed out.

Sally proceeded to ignore him, striking up a quiet little conversation with Bunnie. Neither rabbit nor chipmunk paid any mind whatsoever to the various shouts, cries, splashes, and curses coming from the otherwise calmly sparkling lake.

"Is Sonic trying to learn to swim again, Aunt Sally?" Tails asked as he joined them. Sally smiled genially and nodded, patting the coarse lake sand beside her. The young fox plopped gracelessly onto the spot, rolling onto his belly and resting his chin atop his hands. "It'll be too cold for swimming, soon."

"That's why we're trying to squeeze as many lessons in as we can," Sally nodded. All three observers went quiet then, as something amazing had happened out in the water. Sonic was successfully floating on his back. His eyes were tightly closed and his spread-eagled limbs were stiff with fear, but he was doing it. Antoine took a slow, careful step back in the water and smiled. Maybe, just maybe, he had conquered this remedial exercise…and then the hedgehog panicked, flailing his arms and legs wildly and shrieking in terror, drenching Antoine with violent splashing before going under again. Sally sighed and put her face in one hand while Bunnie gave her a mock sympathetic look, the corners of her mouth quivering with barely suppressed laughter. When the coyote came up again, Sonic had all four limbs wrapped fearfully around his furry trunk. Antoine reflected to himself that this must be how it felt to be on the other side of his own panic attacks…

"For someone who is not wanting to be near ze 'smelly, wet dog' you are being awfully close, yes? Now. Get. _Off._"

Tails looked up from the entertaining happenings as he heard a familiar sound. A flash of silver, and he knew for certain. One of Uncle Chuck's mechanical messenger birds had arrived. He scrambled to his feet, raising a hand for the little thing to perch on.

"Aunt Sally, look!"

"Oh!" Sally exclaimed, reaching forth to delicately take the tiny, rolled piece of parchment from its beak. A moment later, she was gesturing to Sonic and Antoine. "Okay boys! That's enough of torturing Sonic today, we have some work to do."

"You're going to Robotropolis today?" Tails asked, ears perking, "Can I come this time? Pleeeeeease?"

"I don't know, Tails, things have been particularly dangerous lately, and-"

"Pleeeeeease? I've been real good, and I won't get into trouble, promise!"

"Aw come on, let the little guy go!" Sonic said as he finally left the dreaded water behind, pausing to shake off all over the girls, sending them squealing and ducking for cover.

"Sonic!!" Sally protested, smoothing her fur again with some degree of dignity. "Alright, he can come today, but he has to be left hidden on the perimeter where it's safe."

"Yes!" Tails crowed happily, not even minding the lake water now beading on his fur. Nothing could bring his mood down now.

It wouldn't be long before the group had dried off and headed for the dark horizon of Robotropolis.

Tails soon perched on a rusting metal panel, one of many pieces of mechanical detritus that lined the outer edges of the gloomy, chaotic grounds surrounding Robotropolis. Sonic, Sally, Antoine, and Bunnie were quickly moving out of sight, lost to the perpetual fog of noxious fumes that pervaded this place. Time began to pass, the silence of this dead zone broken only by the occasional clanking of distant SWATbots. Suddenly, there was movement. It didn't sound robotic in nature, and Tails assumed it was the team returning, and he stood up on the panel, peering out. It was then that he noticed a moving shadow falling over him, and he realized with a sudden spike of cold panic that something was right behind and above him. It was the last thing he would see for a while. Something sharp and hard struck him, and he fell, never even feeling the ground hit him from below.

To be continued…


	2. Wasabi

Summary: A kidnapped Tails finds himself far from home, and Sonic and the team must go searching for him. Sally gets to introduce her friends to sushi, and she takes her revenge on a misbehaving Sonic…

Characters in this chapter: Sonic, Antoine, Bunnie, Sally, Nicole, Tails. Non-canon characters in this chapter: Miyuki the Japanese Bobtail

Note1: The 'nyao' sound Miyuki makes is the Japanese sound effect equivalent of 'meow'. I did it just to be cute, so there. You know those lucky cat figures you see in shops or restaurants? They're based off the kind of cat she is. The raising of a paw is to beckon luck or money…or just to be cute, which is more or less what she's doing. Note2: This was originally two separate chapters, but my editor told me to combine them so…I did. :D (See, the first chapter was five pages, but the next two were only three, so she had me combine their awesome powers into six pages.)

Kitsune

by Wingedhippocampus

Chapter 2: Wasabi

"Tails wouldn't have just up and left!" Sonic said tersely, pushing aside debris and calling for the missing fox kit. The team had returned from their mission to find the child gone.

"Keep ze voice down, Soneek, or you will be having ze SWATbots all ovair us!" Antoine hissed after a particularly piercing shout.

"I don't care!" Sonic snapped, his voice taking on an edge of desperation, "I have to find him! He's…he's my lil bro…"

"Oh mah stars," Bunnie put her natural hand to her mouth, eyes wide, "Ya don't think th' SWATbots got 'im?"

Silence prevailed for a moment. If the robotic soldiers had captured Tails, well…it had been hours. The chances that the fox was still flesh were slim to none.

"J-just keep looking!" Sonic said, breaking the heavy silence. "Let's spread out. If we don't spot him in the next ten minutes, I'm going back to kick Robuttnik's tail so hard he won't see straight for a month!"

Sally sighed and took Nicole out of her vest, pressing a few buttons. "Nicole, can you help us at all? Maybe tell us which way the SWATbot might have gone?"

"Scanning, Sally," replied the calm voice of the compact mega computer. "Spectral electronic imaging reveals there has been no SWATbot activity in the immediate area for at least forty-eight hours."

"Ya don't think he got bored an' wandered off? Or maybe got tricked outta hidin'?" Bunnie offered.

"That's not like him," Sally replied, brow furrowing. "Nicole, can you find anything at all?"

"One moment, Sally," Nicole would be silent for a few moments, a barely visible blue light flickering from the edge of the casing, casting phantasmal lines over the ground. "Organic matter found: keratinous biological structure that seems to be a hair."

"Are you sure it's not just his?" Sonic asked, "Or maybe one of ours? What the hell does a hair have to do with anything, anyway?"

"Hair is not a match to familiar entities," Nicole told him almost primly, "As for pertinence, it has been shed in the past few hours, placing the owner in the same location at the same time as the missing boy."

"Okay, so we have a potential culprit," Sally put forth cautiously, "Just what sort of person are we dealing with? Someone allied with Robotnik? Maybe sent to kidnap Tails to draw us into a trap?"

"Possible, Sally, but unlikely," Nicole told her, "The scanned hair matches the fur of a tanuki."

"What ees tah-noo-key?" Antoine asked Nicole, puzzled.

"A tanuki is a raccoon-like creature native to Enjou. They are a rare sight outside of their native land, as they only travel for business. Judging by past behaviors and precedents, the chances that this tanuki was affiliated with Robotnik stands at fifteen percent. Conclusion: Tails is no longer within the Kingdom of Acorn."

"Enjou?" Bunnie gasped, "Ya don't think lil ol' Tails was dragged all th' way back there? It's across th' ocean!"

"More importantly, why would he do that?" Sally mused worriedly. "Why would a foreign creature known for keeping to its home territory trek all the way here to take a child and run back home? This makes no sense. Are there any other missing children in the area, I wonder?"

"Well, what are we sitting around here for?" Sonic cried, "Let's get going! We have to save Tails!"

-------------------------

Tails would awaken far more gently than he'd been put to sleep.

With warm light playing against his face and a soft blanket surrounding him, his first thought was that he was safe at home in his own bed. There was a dull ache in the back of his neck, and he vaguely remembered something striking him there, but it didn't seem important. He opened his eyes slowly - and in that moment, the panic struck him anew. Instead of the familiar, comfortable clutter and rounded shapes he was used to, this room was alien, sparse and full of angles. The kit sat up sharply with a gasp, casting about his surroundings to find that he was most certainly not at home in Knothole. Instead of his four posted bed, he was laying on a thick pallet. Gone was the well-packed dirt floor he was used to, replaced by broad mats of tightly woven rushes. The fox scrambled to his feet, quickly finding the open, wood and paper door and rushing out.

Soft threads of morning light shone down from between the blossom-laden boughs of magnificent cherry trees, their lazily fluttering petals drifting down to a carefully tended koi pond in their midst. He must have been far from home indeed - it seemed to be spring here to his autumn. His fright washed away by fascination, Tails walked slowly towards the water, watching the fat, contented fish glide beneath the blossom-scattered surface. Just beyond the koi was a pair of stone lanterns flanking an incredibly long set of stone steps that vanished beyond the trees.

His curiosity couldn't be contained. He crossed the koi pond's bridge. Where did those steps go? He eyed them a moment, contemplating. There were just so many, it would take far too long to climb them. He flicked those two long, bushy tails that were his namesake, setting them to twirling, one after the other, until they blurred into a shining disc of motion that pulled him off the ground with a scattering of cherry petals.

"Hwaa! You really_ can_ fly!"

The exclamation startled him so badly that he lost rhythm before he got anywhere at all and stumbled to the ground, tails bushing up as he snapped his attention to the woman that he hadn't even known was there.

He found himself faced with a pleasantly startled young tricolor cat with brilliant green eyes and just a short scrap of a tail. She was wrapped in something that looked to him like some sort of fancy bath robe.

"What's up there?" he asked, gazing back off towards the stone lanterns, before suddenly remembered himself and his situation. "Wait, who are you?" Tails demanded, taking a cautious step back. "Where am I?"

"That way lies the shrine, you can see it later if you like. My name is Miyuki!" the stranger declared cheerfully, raising a curled paw with a small 'nyao' sound. "You're in the Kitsunebi residence."

"Where are my friends? Why did you hit me?"

"I don't know, you arrived alone. I most certainly didn't hit you, that was Haku, a bounty hunter in our employ. He's already been severely reprimanded, he was supposed to have asked you, not just taken you by force. He can be a little too enthusiastic and, well, direct. We do extend our apologies for that." Miyuki clapped, making a little hop that set the large bell around her neck to jingling. "However, you're here, so let's get to work! The Master wants to see you, but we have to make you presentable first!"

"But wait!" Tails cried as she seized his arm and began to drag him back towards the room he'd wakened from. "What am I _doing_ here? Who is this Master? Hey!"

"Soon, soon!" Miyuki chirped. "Everything you want to know will come soon enough! Now, off with those shoes."

Soon enough, Miyuki'd made Tails what she deemed 'presentable'. This entailed removing his gloves and exchanging his red and white sneakers with soft slippers, (so as not to ruin the delicate tatami, which was apparently what much of the flooring was called) combing his fur, and wrapping him in a blue robe with voluminous sleeves. Then the cat would lead him off down a long hallway, pausing before a large set of sliding lacquered doors. They were slightly ajar, and he could see a few candles breaking the otherwise complete darkness.

"Go on," Miyuki pulled one door open enough for him to enter. "He's expecting you, don't keep him waiting!"

"A-alright." He swallowed, a bit unnerved, as he hesitantly stepped into the heavily shadowed chamber.

-------------------------

It'd taken every last drop of fuel in the biplane to get across the ocean to Enjou. After landing along the shore, Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine would begin to follow Nicole's directions to the nearest settlement.

"D'ya think Rotor an' Dulcy'll be alright alone?" Bunnie asked worriedly as they walked through the foliage.

"They can handle themselves, Bunnie, don't worry," Sally reassured her.

"So what's up with this place, anyway?" Sonic grumped, pushing aside a few stalks of bamboo in his path.

"You didn't much pay attention to Rosie's tutoring, did you," Sally rolled her eyes. "This is Enjou. Before Robotnik's takeover, it was on the verge of becoming the most technologically advanced country on Mobius. Of course, that was before Robotnik rounded up all their scientists and roboticized them for his own uses, which is plunging much of the country back into something close to its past feudal period."

"So is that why they want Tails?" Sonic asked, "because they need his brain?"

"Possible, I suppose," she shrugged, pausing at the crest of a wooded hill to gaze out over the sprawling cluster of houses and fields below. Some of the crops and homes seemed to be in the last stages of fire, some ruined entirely, either having burned down or collapsed somehow. Outright smashed, Sally thought.

"What a dump!" Sonic announced.

"Sonic!" Sally reprimanded before lowering her voice thoughtfully. "Something terrible happened here. We should be careful. Come on…"

Once they'd entered the town proper, they could see that despite the destruction, the people living here seemed to be moving on with their daily lives. Children played in the streets, merchants were hawking their wares, and the smell of food was a welcome undertone to the reek of burning fields and domiciles. Sonic found his stomach rumbling.

"D'ya think they have chili dogs here?" he asked hopefully.

"No," Sally smiled, "They have something better. I could stand to get something to eat, too. We'll all think better on our feet if we keep up our strength, come on," she headed off for a small restaurant. Soon enough, they were settled around a low wooden table.

"Don't they have chairs?" Sonic asked, squirming on the floor cushion.

"It's a cultural thing, Sonic, it won't kill you," Sally sighed. A soft-eyed, bovine waitress scurried over to take their order, staring at all of them a moment before hastily asking them something in a language Sonic didn't understand. To his surprise, Sally answered her right back.

"You speak Enjouan?"

"A princess who will eventually be queen will thusly eventually be a diplomat," she replied with a little smile, "I know many languages, Sonic, it comes with the territory of royalty."

"S'long as it gets us some grub, I'm happy!" Bunnie exclaimed. It wasn't be long before they were served bowls of rice, noodle soup, and several colorful looking dishes arranged neatly on plates.

"Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked, frowning at the table, "where's th' silverware?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bunnie," Sally reached over to put two wooden sticks into the rabbit's right hand. "Here, let me show you how to use chopsticks."

"I can show her, mah princess," Antoine volunteered, "Antoine ees inter-na-see-onal culinary expert!"

"Alright, Antoine."

"What is it?" Sonic asked, poking one of the dishes mistrustfully.

"It's sushi," Sally replied, happily digging into her own plate. "Raw fish over rice."

"Eew! Send it back, tell them to finish cooking it! Then I'll eat it. Maybe."

"At least try it, Sonic, stop being a brat. You should expand your tastes beyond chili dogs, anyway." Sally proceeded to ignore him, enjoying her meal while Antoine and Bunnie got a bit close over their lesson. A few minutes later, she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she looked up at Sonic – who had two noodles sticking out of his nose and a chopstick in each ear. "SONIC!" she snapped, popping him in the back of the head, in the process dislodging his props.

"Ow!" Sonic rubbed at his head. "What was that for?"

"You are _embarrassing me!_" she hissed, "now eat your food and stop being such a child!"

"I might eat it if I recognized anything as _being_ food!" he complained, "but the only thing I recognize is that scoop of mint ice cream!"

"What?" Sally blinked, confused. "What mint ice cream?"

"That!" Sonic pointed to the large ball of wasabi paste that had come with the sushi.

"Soneek, zat is not-" Antoine began, but Sally gestured for him to keep quiet.

"Oh yes, the dessert!" Sally nodded, her voice taking on an alarmingly sweet tone. "That ice cream is for all of us, Sonic."

"Like hell it is!" Sonic reached across the table to stab the ball with a chopstick. "If that puny thing's all we get, then it's mine!" And with that, he popped it into his mouth and crushed it.

It took a moment to set in, but then it hit. Sonic let out a restaurant-freezing howl of shocked agony, then snapped to his feet and bolted in blurred circles around the table, still screaming. Bunnie, Antoine, and the entire restaurant stared in awe, but Sally calmly continued to eat while the hedgehog ran himself out. He only stopped when his watering eyes blinded him so much that he tripped and fell next to Sally.

"Well?" she asked, leaning over him. Sonic's eyes were red and puffy, his nose was watery and the skin beneath the thinner facial fur was quite red as he gasped and coughed.

"More, please," he wheezed.

To be continued…


	3. Azami

Summary: Tails finally gets to face the man who ordered him kidnapped to another country. In the meanwhile, Sonic and the team begin to do their own research into the mystery.

Canon Characters in this chapter: Tails, Sally, Sonic, Antoine, Bunnie, Nicole.  
Non Canon Characters in this chapter: Azami, Miyuki, and many Kitsune!

Note1: Deutscha is my Germany analog. Note2: In Asia, the elements are not Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire, but rather Earth, Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal. Note3: ALL kitsune can make foxfire to some degree, it's just nowhere near Azami's capabilities. Just thought I'd clear that up.

Kitsune

by Winged Hippocampus  
Chapter 3: Azami

Sally paid a little more than she had to for the meal to make up for the spectacle she had caused, then she took to the task of asking around about Tails. She got results quicker than she could possibly have hoped. The first person she asked, an old sow, would point unhappily off towards a near mountain.

"What did she say, Sal?" Sonic asked, concerned by the princess's silence.

"She...she says if we are looking for a fox, we will find many of them on that mountain. She says Tails must now belong to the Demon Foxes of the Kitsune no Kami shrine."

"_D-d-demons?_" Antoine stammered.

"They're kiddin', right?" Bunnie gasped.

"Well, she says that it was one of the Demon Foxes who wrecked the village like this," Sally frowned. "Now I don't know about there actually being demons, but _something_ did all this damage, so we need to stay on our toes. Nicole, bring up what information you can on 'Kitsune no Kami Shrine'."

"Kitsune no Kami means 'God of Foxes' or alternatively 'Divine Fox'", Nicole began. "While there is no linguistic distinction, there are two distinct types of 'kitsune'. One is a quite ordinary fox. The other type is said to be magical, demonized, a creature of the underworld or spirit realm. Kitsune of this type are said to have mystical powers, high intelligence, and a propensity for deception. Some have been known to torment and harm people purely for their own amusement, resulting in many unflattering legends about them. However, there are also many positive legends, and it is difficult to ascertain exactly which side of the kitsune mythos is closer to truth. It is of note that a striking feature of these kitsune is that they possess multiple tails."

"Just like Tails!" Sally gasped. "They may have mistook him for one of their own!"

"Kitsune form a very insular and reticent society that is very difficult for outsiders to penetrate," Nicole continued, but this time she was interrupted by Sonic.

"They do what now?"

"They keep to themselves and aren't very friendly," Sally replied absently.

"May I continue, Sonic?" Nicole asked a bit too sweetly.

"Yeah sure, just stop breaking off into other languages!"

"The Kitsune no Kami shrine itself has an unknown power. It is said that each side of the shrine has its own perpetual season. That is, regardless of the actual season outside the shrine's grounds, on one side, it is always spring, on another, it is always fall, etcetera. Rites are performed within the shrine each year to preserve this oddity."

"Whoah, really?" Sonic grinned. "So I could like, go snowboarding down one side of the mountain and then catch a tan on the other?"

"That is correct."

"How do we get inside to rescue Tails?" Sally asked.

"Carefully," Nicole replied with just a bit of Sonic-esque attitude.

"If these people aren't much fer company, Sally-girl, an' they're known ta be dangerous an' nasty, they're prolly not gonna let us just have poor lil Tails back without a fight."

"Oui, much as eet wounds mah swordsman's pride, pairhaps we had best take to ze, how do you say, sneakering." Antoine said, ignoring Sonic as he began to chortle.

"Sneakering, eh? Is that anything like 'bootsing' or maybe 'sandaling' or even 'penny loafering?"

"Ah think ya mean 'sneaking', Sugar-Ant."

"Oui zat ees what I said," Antoine nodded, not missing a beat.

"Well in that case, we have some serious hiking to do, guys," Sally sighed. "Let's get started."

-------------------------

Tails stepped nervously into the darkened room, pausing to allow his eyes to adjust to the dim candle light. He wasn't used to wearing clothes, and the kimono he had been put into suddenly felt very heavy and confining.

"Please, come in," came a soft, pleasant voice, "there is nothing to fear, little one."

"Who are you?" the kit asked, cautiously coming forward a bit, each step creaking ever so softly on the tatami. "Why is it so dark in here?"

"Oh, forgive me. I had been meditating, and the darkness helps me to relax." There came a flash of blue along either side of the room, leaving what had to have been hundreds of candles lit in its wake, washing the room with warmth and light.

The adult fox kneeling before him was clad in a white kimono with blue trim, his fur a beautiful silvery white color and his eyes a molten gold. His features, Tails noted, were somewhat finer, his limbs lengthier, than the foxes he saw back home. What caught his attention most, however, was the fact that the stranger had not one, not two, but _three_ long, beautiful tails.

"My name is Azami Kitsunebi. I am the master of the house and the appointed keeper of the Kitsune no Kami shrine."

"You…your tails!" Tails stared, almost dizzy with disbelief, "you…you're like _me!_" Like him. He never thought anyone could be like him. All his life, he'd been considered a freak, a mutant, an outcast. He had never seen or heard of any other fox with more than one tail, but here was one right before him! To think that he may actually belong somewhere, that he was more than a mere oddity, filled him with elation.

"Oh?" the fox smiled, gently swishing his triple tails once across the floor, "I am kitsune, as I suspect you are. We kitsune often have many tails. I am but a humble three-tail. There are many more kitsune with many more tails than that, all the way up to nine, though there may only be one ninetails in existence at one time."

"There are…there are _lots_ of us?" Tails sat down a bit harder than he had meant to, blue eyes wide.

"I would not call our kind common, little kit, but with the exception of the ninetails there are usually several of each tail-number living here in Enjou."

"But…but I'm not Enjouan," Tails wilted a bit, his excitement ebbing. "I mean, I don't think I am. I never knew my parents, but I don't look anything like you…"

"It is rare," Azami smiled, his eyes crescenting pleasantly, "but on occasion, a kitsune will be born to otherwise normal parents who live outside Enjou," Azami explained, raising Tails's hope once more."In fact, there is a six-tails with us now who was originally from Deutscha."

"I had no idea there were so many people just like me!" Tails's hopes rose anew.

"Well," Azami tilted his head slightly, studying the little fox, "I would not say quite like you. You see, not all kitsune share the same power. Of the three-tails, for instance, I am the only one with power over fire." Azami lifted a clawed hand, a sphere of blue flame sputtering to brilliant life just over his fingers. Utterly fascinated, Tails found himself moving closer to see, azure light casting over his face. "I have the power of fire. Within other kitsune there lies the power of wind, water, earth, dark, light, wood, and metal. The ninetails, leader of the clan, commands all of these elements at once."

"I wish I could do something like that!" he breathed in awe. Azami then gave him a rather bemused look.

"You obviously do have your own kitsune magic, little one," he said. "You are the only kitsune, even among the two-tails, who can fly. As no other two-tails that we have found has exhibited any real elemental power, it is quite obvious that you are the only existing Kitsune of Wind. Ever since rumors of a flying two-tails reached us from abroad, we have been searching for you…"

"But I don't!" Tails protested weakly. "I'm not, I just…I mean, I don't know why I can do these things but I-" Why was he protesting? He didn't know why. Hadn't he wanted to find his origins, a place to belong, a home? Didn't he have that in Knothole? But the others in Knothole weren't like him, were they? "I'm not who you think I am! There's been a mistake!"

"I am sorry that you see things that way," Azami replied serenely. "I do feel, however, that you may benefit from giving the idea a chance." With that he stood, the fine fabric of his kimono rustling gently. "Will you at least meet the others? They have been waiting to formally meet you."

"I guess so," Tails replied, rising as well. Azami moved past him, sliding the door open and moving after him. Miyuki was still waiting just outside, kneeling on the tatami, though she would wordlessly trail after them once the two had passed. "How many are in this place?"

"Myself and six others, one of each tail-number, and each empowered with an element. You will make the eighth kitsune." Azami paused before an ornate double door carved with twisting dragons. A light push would send them creaking inward to reveal six foxes of both genders, sedately knelt on embroidered cushions. All of then turned their heads, ears pricked, to observe the newcomers.

Tails found all eyes on him, and he was suddenly shy, nearly hiding behind Azami's three luxurious plumes.

"Please forgive me, small one," Azami said softly, "But my manners seem to have left me. What are you called by?"

"Um, my name is Miles. Miles Prower. My friends call me Tails," he replied almost inaudibly.

"This is an outrage!" Tails jumped as one of the females, a slightly built five-tails with a pale gold cast, angrily rose from her seat. "Anyone with eyes can see this child is not one of us!"

"Hikari!" a muscular, dark gray fox with only one tail hissed. "You are out of line!"

"Iwamaru, you are hardly my superior, kindly hold your tongue."

"He does posess the correct physical traits," stated a calmer, deep black fox with red eyes and seven tails.

"Hardly, I feel no power from him whatsoever," Hikari tossed her head proudly, giving Tails such a glare that he retreated fearfully back behind Azami, who obligingly stepped closer, arms slightly spread.

"He does hold power, Hikari," Azami stated calmly. "If you will take your seat and remain civil, you may even get to see it."

"Please forgive the uncouth naysayer, Prower-san," smiled a truly silver fox burdened with eight shimmering tails. "The rest of us welcome you. Please, show us what you can do."

Tails swallowed, stepping out from Azami's shadow with a little nod. A twirl of his plumes, and he was airborne, setting the gathered kitsune to whispering amongst themselves. Even Hikari seemed to be grudgingly impressed.

"He may very well be the one we have been looking for, Azami," said a six-tails with strange eyes. It took Tails a moment to realize she was blind. "And not a moment too soon."

That phrasing set off little alarm bells in the back of the kit's mind and he frowned, landing to gaze about the room.

"What _have_ I been brought here for? Why are you so desperate to find a two-tailed fox who can fly? One who you think has an elemental power?"

The room's silence was not particularly heartening. Azami cleared his throat, ears wilting a bit.

"Forgive us, little brother," he began, "but you are most certainly here for a reason. We need the power of all eight elemental spirits to create the ultimate kiyome ishi."

"What's a 'kiyome ishi'?"

"It is a potent purification tool," a gentle-looking four tails explained.

Azami nodded, ears wilting a bit further. "You see, our land is currently being ravaged by a merciless monster. Crops are being burned, rivers flooded, homes razed, many lives are being lost. If we create the kiyome ishi, we can stop the beast."

"By _purifying_ it?" Tails was a bit baffled. He didn't feel it was appropriate to simply ask why they didn't just kill it, but Azami seemed to have read his mind.

"Yes. We do not want to slay the monster," he sighed, and the other kitsune suddenly seemed very uncomfortable, going very quiet and still. "You see, the monster…the monster is our ninetails. He's gone mad."

To be continued…


	4. Four Seasons

Summary: Presuming him to be one of their own due to his double tails, The Kitsune Clan of Enjou(Japan) has taken our hero, Tails, into their domain, and are asking for his help in bringing down their maddened clan leader. Meanwhile, Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine make it to the shrine, and Antoine finds someone willing to face his rarely-showcased skills.

Characters in this chapter: Antoine, Sally, Bunnie, Sonic, Tails

Non-canon characters in this chapter: Azami, Iwamaru, Kinzoku, bit parts by others.

Note1: Kitsune are not samurai and don't do that whole honor thing. They don't necessarily play fair and will deceive an unwary opponent in battle. Note2: Kitsune can create illusions using foxfire.

Kitsune

by WingedHippocampus

Chapter 4: Four Seasons

"I'll do it!" Tails didn't know why he had said it, it had come forth before he'd even realized it. Maybe it was because back home, everyone seemed to think he was a helpless little kid. Nobody had ever asked for his help in doing something _truly_ important or dangerous. "I'll help you. What do I need to do?"

"Thank you, little brother," Azami bowed to the smaller fox. "You only need to give your element to the creation of the purification stone. We will take care of the rest."

"I'm not sure I have an element, Mister Azami, but I'll try."

"That is all we ask then, ne?" the silvery creature turned to the others and nodded. "We shall begin preparations at once. Everyone, you know what to do. Iwamaru, please take the boy in hand and show him." At that, the gathered kitsune would rise from their cushions and begin filing out of the room, murmuring to eachother in a language Tails did not understand. Iwamaru, the single-tailed, muscle bound kitsune, would move to Tails's side as Azami left.

"I will show you what to do," Iwamaru said, but he paused as the metallic-looking eight-tails approached, smiling at the child. The little fox didn't think the eight-tails's eyes were nearly as warm in such a smile as Azami's had been.

"Please, do not mind Hikari-san," he said. "For the Kitsune of Light, she can be quite a dark and selfish character. We welcome you to our clan."

"It's okay," Tails nodded. "If she's the Kitsune of Light, and Azami is Fire, and I'm supposed to be Wind, what are you?"

"I am Kinzoku, the Kitsune of Metal. Is it not obvious?" He laughed, turning around once to show off his gloriously shiny coat and sparkling, gold-filigreed kimono. "Iwamaru there is the Kitsune of Earth. Iwamaru-san, I will take it from here."

"Azami-sama said-"

"You've no experience with kits," the other interjected smoothly. "You will frighten him half to death."

"Well…" Iwamaru rubbed at the back of his head, then nodded reluctantly. "Alright, but don't take too long."

"Of course," Kinzoku bowed as the bulkier fox made good his exit.

"So what do I do?" Tails asked earnestly. "I want to help!"

"You have a very forward attitude, this is good!" Kinzoku praised cheerfully. "Now, here is what must be done…"

-------------------------

The Freedom Fighters often had to trek miles through harsh, enemy-infested terrain back home, so the trek up the mountain presented little difficulty. In fact, it had offered some rather spectacular scenery with the fresh air and natural beauty that had been extinguished in Robotropolis.

"It's a lil like home, isn't it? Kinna like our own Great Forest up here." Bunnie smiled, catching a brilliant red leaf in her hand as a passing breeze loosened a boughful of autumn glory.

"Yes," Sally replied, "but like the Great Forest, this area is an island of nature in a sea of Robotnik's ruin. Further inland, it's a lot more like Robotropolis."

"Ze sun will be down soon, no?" Antoine whimpered, gazing about the mountain forest nervously. "Zese demons you are speaking of earlier, will zey be prowling?"

"I don't know, Antoine," Sally sighed, gazing up at the reddening sky. "Hopefully we'll make it to the Kitsune no Kami shrine before it gets dark."

"But iz zat not where ze demons are _comeeng_ from?" Antoine shrank into himself, ears down and eyes wide. Then he shrieked as Sonic, unable to resist, leapt at him with a blood-curdling yell.

"Sonic!" Sally hissed angrily, "We're trying to be inconspicuous! Stop making so much noise!"

"Hey, 'Twan helped!" Sonic protested, shrugging.

"Sally-girl!" Bunnie called softly, pointing ahead. "Ah think we found it!" The cyborg rabbit was pointing towards an almost-hidden stone path that led to a leaf-choked wooden archway of sorts.

"Good eye, Bunnie. Let me see," Sally climbed over to it, pushing brush out of her way. The vines and yellowing leaves were so thick that she couldn't quite see through to what was beyond. Cautiously, she began to push her way through to the other side, vanishing into the foliage. The chill of an impending autumn night began to give way to a strange warmth. A moment later, the other could hear her gasp.

"Sal? You okay?" Sonic asked tersely, ready to rush in.

"Come look!" Once through, they found a fascinated Sally amidst a gentle fall of pink cherry petals. The autumn beyond the hidden arch had vanished and given way to a supernatural spring. Before them lay an ornate building with paper doors. "It's real!" she exclaimed. "We have to be in the right place. Alright everyone, let's treat this like any other mission. Stay low, search for clues. Sonic, you come with me, Bunnie, Antoine, you two start here."

"As you weesh, mah Princess!" Antoine saluted.

"Be careful, y'all!" Bunnie cautioned, heading for the building while Sonic and Sally trekked through the trees to circle around and approach from the other side. "C'mon, soldier boy!"

"Oui oui, mademoiselle," Antoine followed the rabbit as she slipped in through the paper doors, her robotic parts surprisingly silent as she moved.

"Look!" she whispered, holding up a red and white object. It was one of Tails's shoes. Nearby was its mate, and both of the kit's gloves. "He's here, sure as day!"

"Why ze belongings are off?" Antoine asked fearfully. "Did ze demons have heem for dinnair?"

"Don't talk like that, Antoine, he's fine!" Bunnie replied. She then dropped the shoe with a gasp as the opposite door opened and a cat stepped in. Only a feline could have pad footed so quietly that neither Bunnie or Antoine could hear her coming. She blinked at the frozen duo a moment, then she shrieked and bolted off, her short tail puffing. "Aw dammit, Antoine!!" Bunnie cursed. "We gotta get outta hea'!!"

"I am thirding ze motion!" the coyote turned to bolt back outside, but he would stop cold at a scream from his companion. Antoine whipped around to find Bunnie trapped behind a wall of eerie blue flame that seemed to not burn anything around it, but was nonetheless keeping the rabbot in place. Behind her was a strange-looking fox in a white robe of some sort, and he was holding a shining blade in one hand.

Antoine's expression suddenly changed from one of terror to one of determination. He stopped cowering, his trembling subsiding as he drew his own sword and took a familiar stance. The fox watched him, ears pricking forward, one brow raised. He then nodded, agreeing to rise to the unspoken challenge, and leaped over the entrapped girl to bring his weapon to bear.

Antoine was often called a coward, and ridiculed by some of the others for his nervous disposition. There was a difference, however, in the coyote being faced with a nearly indestructible metal monster that could kill him at a thousand paces, and this. This was swordplay, something he had been learning since almost before he could walk. It was something that hearkened back to more confident times, and somehow it brought that assurance forward to the present. What was more, Bunnie was in danger, and there was no one else around to defend her now, was there?

The fox's sword was thin and fragile-looking, so Antoine was unprepared for the force that it carried, and he found himself immediately driven to one knee. Rather than continue to press the coyote, however, his opponent immediately let up and leaped back to give himself room for a swift, oblique strike. Antoine was forced to throw himself backwards, flat on the floor, and the paper doors behind him collapsed as they were cut in half. He'd get back up quickly, but he wouldn't get the chance to strike back as he was kicked viciously with enough force to send him through the ruined shoji. He'd land with a painful thump on the wooden bridge of the koi pond, spending a few precious moments regaining his breath before getting back up. He realized, with a bolt of panic, that he had no idea where his opponent had gone, and the fact that it was now night would not help.

The bridge exploded from beneath, peppering Antoine with sharp jags of wood, the kitsune bursting through to attack again. It was all the Mercian could do to keep those flickering, swift strikes from getting through to his flesh. He hardly noticed when he passed from Spring to Summer. The grass was now dark and long, and the two combatants stirred up clouds of fireflies with each step. The fox began to change attack patterns, keeping Antoine on his guard. Soon, they spun their way into Autumn, their movements sending up bursts of leaves. The fox bounced backwards onto a tree branch and from there to the ground, spinning sharply. The whirlwind movement stirred up a dervish of leaves that quickly obscured Antoine's vision. He took a guarding stance, slowly pacing in a tight circle, trying in vain to determine his enemy's whereabouts in that rustling curtain. A sharp burning sensation shot along his ribs as he was sliced, but that strike cost the kitsune his position, and Antoine's blade flickered out into the wall of leaves to be rewarded with a pained cry. As the flurry ceased, Antoine would finally become the aggressor, pushing the wounded fox through the leaves until they began to frost over. A few more strides, and they would be in Winter. Though sweat dampened his fur, he hardly felt the cold at this point. His pale opponent became more difficult to see in this environment, but he was determined to keep his eyes on him this time.

The noise outside had caught Sally's attention, and she plowed into the snow with a gasp, heading for Antoine. Sonic seized her arm, pulling her back.

"What are you doing, he's in trouble, Sonic!" she protested. "We have to help him!"

"No," Sonic's eyes were on the fight, brows furrowed, but a slight smile on his face. Antoine was obviously in his element. "He's fine."

Sally stared incredulously at the hedgehog. It couldn't be possible that he actually knew something she didn't. Could it?

"Trust me, Sal," he said softly. "Trust Antoine."

The fox suddenly began sprinting in seemingly random patterns around the coyote. Each time he changed direction, there was a burst of blue flame, and a perfect, moving image of the kitsune would appear from it. Antoine quickly became confused, unsure which was the real fox. He wasn't sure if the copies could hurt him, but he didn't want to find out. Thinking on his feet, he swept up a frost-covered stone and hurled it into the trees above, sending a curtain of snow showering down around him. The snow passed through all but one fox, and he knew he had his target. Blade once more met blade with an echoing ring of steel.

Everyone froze, however, as a new sound from somewhere in the residence rose over the chill air. The Freedom Fighters recognized the voice instantly.

Tails was screaming.

To be continued…


	5. Betrayal

Summary: Tails finds himself in mortal danger, and who will save him? The Kitsune Clan's problems seem to have only just begun, and hope seems lost. They aren't the only ones with sinking feelings, as Sonic and the others begin to realize they may not be going home with their foxy friend in hand.

Canon Characters in this chapter: Sonic, Antoine, Bunnie, Sally, Tails  
Non Canon Characters in this chapter: Kinzoku, Azami, bit parts by others.

Note1: A reminder that the Confucian Elements involve Wood and Metal.

Kitsune  
by WingedHippocampus

Chapter Five: Betrayal

"Prower-san!"

"Tails!"

Antoine and Azami blinked at each other as they realized they had spoken nearly in unison. Different words, same concern. A look of understanding passed between them, swordsman to swordsman, and they both lowered their weapons in wordless truce. Elsewhere, Bunnie's foxfire prison would fade as well.

"This way, quickly," the kitsune said before sprinting off.

Tails fell back against a wall, hot blood from his ear trickling down to soak his fur. If he hadn't used those remarkable tails of his to give himself a sudden boost, he'd never have been able to dodge in time, and he would have been far more injured, perhaps even dead.

"What are you doing?!" he squeaked fearfully, casting about desperately for a safe exit. Kinzoku advanced on him, long claws dripping with the kit's blood. The boy watched in mixed horror and fascination as the fur on the Kitsune of Metal's tails seemed to melt, forming into eight sharp blades that then spread to either side, preventing him from trying to escape around the larger fox, and there wasn't enough room to fly over him without being struck.

"I don't know if you are the missing Kitsune of Wind or not," Kinzoku laughed coldly, "but the possibility that you might be makes you quite a large inconvenience for me."

"What are you talking about?" Tails pressed himself to the wall, trembling. "You brought me here!"

"No, that fool Azami did, or more specifically, one in his employ. It hardly matters. With you gone, all hope for creating the kiyome ishi will vanish. The ninetails is too mad to eat or sleep, he will spend himself out and die soon enough. Once he is gone, the most powerful eight-tails will rise to fill his position…"

Now Tails understood. Azami had said there could only be one ninetails in existence at a time. Kinzoku wanted to be the next ninetails, but that meant the current one had to die. If Kinzoku had been chosen to help create the kiyome ishi, then surely he _was_ the most powerful eight-tails, and therefore his place was assured. All he had to do was make sure the ninetails could not be saved. Tails was young and vulnerable, the easiest link to knock out of the elemental chain. Kinzoku had stayed behind with the child, then waited until the other Kitsune were gone so he could kill him at leisure.

"You…you did this to him?" Tails asked in a quavering voice. "You made the ninetails turn into a monster?"

"Of course not," Kinzoku smiled, and Tails was quite sure he was showing all those sharp teeth on purpose. "The old fool thought he could heal the land ruined by Robotnik's activities. He tried to purify the inland provinces, and he took on too much. All that poison and decay, laced with the sheer power of his own spells backfired, and he became a stupid, rampaging animal. I did not cause this, but I know a golden opportunity when I see it." The kitsune held out his reddened hand, his claw tips flashing silver as they grew into ice-pick like, metal spikes. "I would discuss it with you further, but I am afraid it is pointless to lecture to dead children." Kinzoku drew back his claw, preparing to thrust those deadly spines into the poor kit.

Azami seemed to appear from nowhere, pouncing Tails's attacker to the ground and angrily shouting at him in Enjouan. Then the world suddenly pitched around Tails, and he panicked, squirming.

"Chill out, big guy!"

"Sonic?!" Sure enough, he realized he'd been scooped into the familiar hedgehog's arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, I hear Enjou is beautiful this time of year, so I figured, what the heck? Just watch out for the mint ice cream in these parts." the hedgehog screeched to a halt just outside the room and handed the bleeding fox over to a waiting Sally, who gave him a grateful squeeze before examining his ear.

"Oh, Miles!" she gasped. "That needs to be stitched up soon or you're going to have permanent notches there. Bunnie, do you have any gauze in one of your compartments?"

"Ah think so," Bunnie nodded, touching a button on her bionic leg to open a hidden storage area.

"Wait, what about Azami?" Tails pushed Sally's hand away from his ear and he moved for the door, only to have his kimono collar seized by Sonic.

"Whoah there, buddy, there's a killer psycho in there, remember?"

"We gotta help Azami!" Tails protested, giving Sonic a large-eyed, pleading look.

Before anyone could respond, two more kitsune appeared in the hallway. Tails recognized the blind Danica and the previously unpleasant Hikari.

"Danica's hearing is rather exceptional, even for a kitsune" Hikari said, eyeing the little knot of strangers. "She said she had heard something unusual. Intruders, is it?"

"Never_mind_, Azami's in trouble!" Tails pointed almost desperately to the closed door. "Kinzoku tried to kill me and now they're fighting!"

"What?" That got a startled blink out of both women, and before Tails could say any more, they were gone. Sally took this opportunity to grab Tails and pull him back so she could tend to his torn ear.

"No, let go, let go!" Tails squirmed in her grasp. Sonic sighed, scratching his head.

"Don't worry about it, lil bro, I'll make sure he's okay!" Sonic was gone with a flash of blue.

As soon as the blue hedgehog entered the room, he could tell it was already over. All signs pointed to a short but nasty battle, and all four kitsune were bloodied. Three against one, eight-tails or no, Kinzoku had fallen. One of the females was apparently unconscious, but Azami and the blind kitsune turned to regard Sonic, who gave them a weak little wave.

"You intruders must be the kit's friends," the three-tails said with a bloodied little smile. Those white robes of his were nearly red by now. The six-tails wasn't looking much better. "Forgive me for attacking, my servant came to me in quite a panic, you understand." Azami said in a pained voice.

"We'll talk about that later, you guys need a medic or something," Sonic replied, shaking his head.

"If you could find the aforementioned servant, a cat in a lavender kimono, she will know what to do. You can find her three halls down in the kitch-" Azami stared as the oddly colored hedgehog seemed to have simply vanished. "-en." He jumped in astonished surprise as he reappeared, bearing a wide-eyed, fear-frozen Miyuki in his arms. "You…you are quite fast."

"The name says it all! I'm Sonic! OW!" Miyuki scrambled out of his hold, nearly knocking him over.

"Azami-sama!" the cat cried in dismay at his wounds. Sonic's speed would be put to work again, as Miyuki began requesting medicines and supplies. The room was closed off to allow other servants to clean up the mess, and the injured were moved to another part of the residence, far from the evidence of battle. The other kitsune were called back from their preparations, and everyone, including the Freedom Fighters, gathered.

"I do believe we have reason to start over," Azami had been treated and bandaged, and was now in a fresh kimono, though he hadn't the strength left to do more than lean heavily on a worried Miyuki.

"Why don't you start with why you kidnapped a ten-year-old child and dragged him to another continent?" Sally demanded, crossing her arms and glaring challengingly. To her surprise, Tails moved defensively in front of Azami to answer.

"It's okay, Aunt Sally, it was kind of a mistake. Taking me without asking I mean. They really need my help right now, and I wanna do it! I'm not ready to leave yet! There's this monster, only he's not a monster, he's a fox like these guys, and he's a monster because he's sick, see, and we need to make a medicine stone thing to make him all better and not…monster-y."

"Tails, I don't know if-"

"You never let me do anything! I'm a Freedom Fighter! Just like the rest of you! I want to do what's right. The monster is _hurting people_ just like Robotnik hurts people, and besides, it's his fault anyway!"

"What?" Sally frowned, a little confused.

"Robotnik's pollution made the land bad, and the leader of these guys tried to make it better and it hurt him instead. That's why he's a monster, and why he's being mean. _Especially_ because it's Robotnik's fault, we can't just leave things like this!"

"Yanno, Sal," Sonic murmured, "the kid's got a point. Robotnik's influence reaches a lot further than our own homeland, and anyway, what'll happen to the people here if we don't do something? Are we Freedom Fighters or aren't we? The big guy can help them with this, I'm sure."

"Well," she sighed, looking first at her own little group, then at the quietly gathered kitsune. "Alright. I can't say I approve of your initial actions, but your cause is noble. Perhaps you are right, it _is_ time to start over. Allow us to introduce ourselves. This is Sonic Hedgehog…"

"Hey, how's it goin'?" Sonic stepped forward with a big grin and a wave. Some of the kitsune seemed to recognize his name, and they began speaking quietly amongst each other until Sally spoke again.

"That is Bunnie Rabbot…" Bunnie went through the motions of a curtsey in response. "Antoine Depardieu is the one currently having his side stitched up, and I am Princess Sally Acorn." She immediately regretted adding the 'Princess' title, as every kitsune in the room other than the injured Azami went silent and bowed deeply. Her royalty had never been something she threw around, and she preferred to think of everyone in Knothole as equals.

"Sally-hime," Azami made do with a nod, "it is an honor to meet all of you."

"What did he call you?" Sonic asked, frowning.

"Princess, Sonic. And before you ask, 'san' is a gender-neutral Mister or Misses, and 'sama' indicates great respect."

"Hey, I wasn't gonna ask!" Sonic protested.

"I am Azami Kitsunebi, master of this house and keeper of the Kitsune no Kami shrine. I further apologize for all that has happened," he sighed. "Prower-san, my heart is warmed by your determination to aid us, but I fear it is no longer possible to create the kiyome ishi at this point."

"What?!" Tails cried in dismay. "But…your ninetails, he'll die, and he's gonna take more lives before he does!"

"The creation of this level of purification stone requires eight powerful kitsune affiliated with one of each of the elements. We have lost Kinzoku, the Kitsune of Metal, and there is no one to take his place. In addition, even if we did have a Kitsune of Metal, Danica, Hikari, and myself are badly injured. To give our energy for the kiyome ishi at this point would mean death for us and possibly failure of the entire procedure. If we had a Kitsune of Metal, we would gladly risk our lives, but as things stand, there is no hope for success. We have no choice but to do the unthinkable but necessary thing; destroy the monster before any more damage is done."

"There has to be a way," Sally asserted. "It's too soon to give up. Azami-sama…" She would pause to kneel in proper Enjouan fashion. "This is important to Miles, and therefore important to me. What is more, I cannot stand by and let people suffer. Please, before you give up on this, allow me and my team some time to try and come up with a solution."

Tails brightened. His Aunt Sally was smart, and with Nicole at her side, he was confident that there were very few problems she couldn't solve. Azami looked to his bleak-faced brethren, then nodded.

"It is not as though we've anything to lose tonight. Sally-hime, you and yours may remain here for the evening. Miyuki here will show you to your rooms."

"Thank you, Azami-sama, we graciously accept your hospitality." Sally rose, and Miyuki would step away from Azami to begin leading the foreigners away.

"So, what's the plan, Sal?" Sonic asked, falling into step beside the princess.

"I don't know, Sonic, I'll have to think on it," she sighed. "It's my problem right now. Your concern should be Tails."

"Huh? Aw, he's fine, you can barely see the stitches."

"That's not what I mean, Sonic," she paused, nodding back to where Tails was cheerfully chattering at a patiently smiling Azami. "I mean, are we going to be able to take Tails back home with us when we leave?"

"What? Of course we are, we came all this way to get him, they'd _better_ let us have him back."

"I think at this point, it's his choice," she sighed, moving again. "We don't quite know what Tails is, we never have. Maybe the kitsune didn't make a mistake. Maybe he really is one of them. This very well could be his extended family, and this may be the better home for him."

"What?" Sonic remained frozen to the spot, his face stricken as what she was saying sank in.

Sally was telling him that he may have to say farewell to Tails.

To be continued….


	6. Rift

Summary: Sonic confronts Tails about the possibility of the fox remaining in Enjou with the Kitsune Clan, and Sally has charged herself with finding a way to save both the ninetails and the innocent lives he may take, what solution will she come up with?

Canon Characters in this chapter: Bunnie, Antoine, Sonic, Tails, Sally, Nicole  
Non-Canon Characters in this chapter: Azami, Miyuki

Note1: Kamishimo is samurai wear. Sonic is referring to the hakama, which can puff out quite a bit. Note2: The aodai is a Vietnamese garment.

Kitsune

by WingedHippocampus

Chapter Six: Rift

Roiling sheets of steam painted droplet patterns on Bunnie's metal limbs as she lowered herself into the mineral-rich waters of the hot spring. The natural spring nestled up to one side of the Kitsunebi residence, and it was guarded by several flowering plum trees, their petals occasionally fluttering into the vaporous water.

"Oh, _Great Mobius_ yes!" she exclaimed breathily as she all but melted onto the stone that was supporting her, blissfully sinking in up to her chin. Partly robotic or not, the day had left her just as sore and exhausted as the rest of them, and her back was killing her. "Sally-girl, we gotta get one a' these back home."

"I think there's a natural hot spring somewhere around the wolf's canyon, actually," Sally replied absently, her eyes locked on Nicole.

"Well'n first thing when we get back, I'm payin' Lupe a visit. Arentcha scared ya might drop her in?" Bunnie asked.

"Nicole is waterproof, fireproof, and shock-resistant," she murmured.

"How d'ya know?"

"After all we've been put through? Believe me, I know by now."

"Mmm," Bunnie closed her eyes, going quiet for a few relaxing minutes. A sound from behind the wooden privacy partition had one ear pricking a bit.

"I'm not getting in there!" Bunnie could hear Sonic protesting. "What is it with me and you ending up in the water together lately?"

"Soneek, you are steenking of sweat and filth and I will not 'ave you near me at ze dinnair table in such a state!"

"If I have to look at your face and keep my appetite, then you can be treated to a little manly musk, you fruit! Hey, what are you doing? Get away from me! AUGH!" The cry was followed by a great commotion of splashing and spluttering and half-unintelligible threats.

"Boys," Bunnie smirked, opening one eye to look at Sally, who seemed not at all disturbed by the commotion coming from the men's side.

Soon enough, the hot spring soak would be over, and the guests would begin emerging for dinner.

"That cat lady tried to steal my shoes!" Sonic, now dressed in a green kimono, complained. Antoine stepped out into the hall with him, and the hedgehog burst into laughter. "They put you in a skirt? Oh man, do they know a fruit when they see one!"

"The time for shuteeng up would be now, Soneek," Antoine grumbled with all the dignity he could muster. "Eet is not a skirt, eet is very pleated trousers, you fuel. And ze cat is tryeeng to save ze floor."

"Oh y'all look great!" Bunnie exclaimed as she joined them in a nearly skin tight, long dress with semi-transparent sleeves and deep splits up the sides. It was quite tight around the top, causing Antoine to have to look away.

"Hey, how come you two get different clothes?" Sonic asked, puzzled.

"Well, I hear your Mercian friend held his own quite well against Azami-sama's sword, so I had a kamishimo brought in for him in honor of that," Miyuki would answer as she popped up. "I just took liberties in giving Bunnie-san here an aodai, because it seemed to suit her. The aodai is actually not Enjouan, but she is unique, so unique clothes seemed to fit!"

"Then where's Sal?"

"I'm coming," Sally's disgruntled voice came from behind a closed door. "Miyuki-san, I can barely move!"

"Oh but Sally-hime, you look so spectacular! Come out!" the cat pleaded.

"This is ridiculous, I don't like to make my royalty an issue." Sally would, however, open the door and emerge. Her body was all but swallowed in layer upon layer of precious fabrics, cloth trailing well onto the floor. Her head was adorned with a golden ornament that bore a suspicious resemblance to the official crown of the Kingdom of Acorn, something that had made Sally wonder if her family had been here before in the past.

"What in all a' Mobius is that contraption?" Bunnie asked, wide-eyed.

"It's called a junihitoe, or 'twelve-layer robe'," Sally sighed miserably in answer. "One really can't get much more royal than this."

Sonic, of course, could not help himself, and burst into gales of laughter.

"You look like an undercooked technicolor pancake stack on a stick!" he howled, holding his sides while Sally gave him a look that spoke of impending death. Miyuki, for one, seemed unaffected, and headed down the hall, waving for them to follow.

"Nyao! Dinner should nearly be ready, come now, everyone is waiting!"

"Eee hee, huu…" Sonic wiped away a tear, moving to follow the others. His back spines were making the clothing uncomfortable. He was considering just taking it off, custom or no, when he caught sight of Tails and Azami passing from further down the hall.

"Hey!" He called before zipping up to them, startling the older fox. "Tails, I need to talk to you."

"Um, okay," Tails nodded. Sonic frowned and glared almost challengingly up at Azami.

"Alone?"

"Of course." The kitsune smiled and gave them both a little bow before moving serenely away, seemingly unruffled by Sonic.

"I _hate_ that guy." Sonic muttered before seizing the kit's wrist and bolting off for a more private area, running deep into the Summer side of the grounds. Tails was quite used to being hauled off at incredible speed, and he simply smoothed his blue kimono and sat on the grass, stirring up a sleepy cloud of fireflies as he did.

"I dunno, I think Azami's neat!" Tails piped cheerfully. "While you were getting ready for dinner, he started teaching me Enjouan! Did you know 'natsu', means summer? And that –"

"Yeah that's great," Sonic interrupted, folding his arms. "I don't know how wonderful this guy is, seeing as he and his friends almost got you killed."

"That wasn't their fault!" Tails protested.

"Sure looked like it to me!" Sonic snapped back. "Do you have any idea what it would have done to us, to….to me, if you'd died back there? I already thought…I mean, when we couldn't find you when we came back from the mission, I thought you…that maybe you were…" Dead. Roboticized. Injured and suffering somewhere, where Sonic couldn't reach him. The possibilities had terrified Sonic then.

"But I didn't! I'm fine, see?"

"Right, you just nearly lost an ear, and oh, your ilife/i but you're just fine," Sonic said sarcastically, his voice raising. "These people don't care about you, Tails, they're not your family!"

"How do you know? You don't know where I might have come from, no one does. My parents or grandparents might have been from Enjou, they might have been part of the Kitsune Clan, and that means I might be, too!"

"Are you really that desperate for somewhere to belong?! Isn't it enough to be around people who care about you? Who cares if you don't look like the rest of us, or any fox in the kingdom? Just because these people happen to be foxes and most of them have more tails than you do doesn't mean you belong with them. You belong with your family. You belong with _us_, Tails."

"Maybe I don't," Tails stated softly, looking away. "Maybe I never have."

Sonic was silent a moment, wounded. How could Tails possibly feel as though he had never belonged with them? None of them had ever treated Tails any differently from anyone else, and they defended him from those who had. More so, Tails wasn't the only one who was different. He wasn't the only one to have ever been called a freak. Sonic knew _exactly_ how the little fox felt.

"So that's it then, right?" he whispered, fists clenching. "Well, maybe you're right. Do what you want, Tails. I don't care anymore."

"Sonic, I-" But before Tails could say any more, Sonic was gone.

Sally was worried. Neither Sonic or Tails had returned in time for dinner, and she'd rarely seen either of them miss a meal. She was worried and exhausted, but she did not sleep. Instead, she shed all but the last few layers of her robes, took Nicole, and made her way towards the shrine proper. In her weariness, that long flight of stone steps seemed even longer than it should have, but she made it to the top without incident. Enormous stone foxes sat perched on either side of the large, fortunately open doors, and she could almost feel them watching her as she entered. The interior was vast but relatively simple, bearing an offering table and banks of candles, with calligraphy scrolls bearing what must have been the names of particular kitsune. Upon approaching, she discovered a large, freshly laid circle of rope on the floor, with eight clay discs laid at regular intervals along its outer edge. She realized the Enjouan characters for elements were etched deeply upon them, one for each disc. This must be where the kitsune were to have attempted the creation of the purification stone.

Slowly, she began to walk around the circle, pausing at Fire, Water, Light, and Metal. Azami, Danica, and Hikari were too injured to give themselves to the spell, and Kinzoku was dead. Replacement kitsune of their high-powered caliber obviously couldn't be found in time, or perhaps did not even yet exist. She realized there were four open places, and four of her own team, not counting Tails.

"I wish we could just take their places," she sighed to herself. To her surprise, Nicole actually answered her unbidden.

"It is not an impossibility, Sally," the mobile mega computer said.

"But I thought only empowered kitsune could perform the ceremony," Sally protested. Nicole knew this, surely.

"Kitsune must be involved, but anyone with a strong force of will and an elementally aligned mind can successfully participate provided there is enough power involved."

Sally began to feel the stirrings of hope. She and the others certainly had a strong force of will. They had proven this since childhood, ever since that fateful day when their lives had been forever changed, and their hardships had only made them stronger. She had no doubts about her friends' true spirit.

"When limited to Fire, Water, Light, and Metal, who would be ideal to fit each element?"

"Bunnie is strong yet giving, supportive of others while retaining herself, grounded in sensibility. Bunnie would therefore be an ideal Metal."

"The fact that she's partially made of it doesn't hurt, right?"

"It helps," Nicole replied, breaking into something close to humor. "Antoine is mercurial, his mind and emotions flow from one thing to another. He will often become whatever a situation requires him to be, in the manner than a stream will allow itself to be split by stones, but always comes back together. Antoine is Water."

"That leaves Light and Fire," Sally murmured. "Continue."

"You are illuminated by your knowledge and pursuit of it. You bring the dawn of hope to hearts darkened by adversity. You are quick and decisive. You, Sally, are Light."

"Then Sonic must be Fire," Sally nodded.

"Yes. Sonic is passionate and sometimes quick tempered, but he gives warmth to those he cares for. Sonic is Fire."

"Alright, so we have alignments and will. What about power?"

"That, Sally, is the problem. The kitsune naturally have a certain degree of power. You and the others do not have this. If the rite is attempted, and there is a deficit, the rite will fail, you will be drained entirely of life force, and you will die."

"It's certainly not something I would enter into lightly," she sighed. "Where would we find power that we could actually access?"

"I do not know, Sally," Nicole admitted.

"Well, it was a good idea there for a minute," Sally smiled and shook her head. "I guess I should just sleep on it for now."

Sally entered her well-appointed guest room, shedding the borrowed robes as she went. It took her a moment to realize that Miyuki was in the room, dropping off Sally's newly cleaned boots and vest.

"Ah, Sally-hime!" the cat greeted her with a bow. "Everything is cleaned and folded for you. Oh, and this fell out of the vest and into the washing water, I fished it out and kept it for you."

Sally stared in sudden epiphany at the object Miyuki was holding out to her. Of course. It had been so obvious. So obvious, in fact, that she'd somehow managed to overlook it until now. The poor cat gave a startled mew as Sally swept her up into a rather undignified hug.

"That's it!" she cried happily. "That's how I can make this work!"

To be continued…


	7. Elements

Summary: Sally convinces the mistrustful Kitsune Clan to go along with her idea, but with Tails and Sonic's hearts in turmoil, will they be able to concentrate long enough to succeed?

Canon Characters in this chapter: Sonic, Sally, Antoine, Bunnie, Tails

Non-Canon Characters in this chapter: Azami, bit parts by others.

Note: For those of you uninitiated to SatAM or the earlier comics, a Power Ring is…um, well a big gold ring, just like you pick up in the games, but in the animation and comics, they have special powers. Usually they just make Sonic run even faster, but they've also been used to power machinery and other things. In the animation, they're actually very precious, and one is created only every twelve hours from a pool in the forest (Uncle Chuck submerged a ring-generator in it). If someone isn't there to catch the ring when it emerges, it sinks back down and is presumably reabsorbed into the machine. So…yeah, in SatAm, they're kinna important and not what you would call common.

Kitsune

by WingedHippocampus

Chapter Seven: Elements

Miyuki, thankfully, did not seem to think breakfast as formal an affair as dinner, so Sally got to wear her usual clothes. Sonic and Tails had both come back to the Kitsunebi residence at some point in the night, though they seemed to be avoiding eachother. Sally watched them over the meal, each pointedly not speaking to the other. This was something they would have to work out between them, she knew, though she could not kid herself about how the outcome would affect her, as well. Instead, however, she turned her attention to Azami and the other kitsune.

"Excuse me," Sally began, and she found all eyes on her.

"Yes, Sally-hime?" Azami asked gently.

"I think I may have come up with a solution," she announced. The kitsune wore various looks at that statement, from doubt to surprise to curiosity. "We may still be able to create your purification stone if Sonic, Antoine, Bunnie and I take the places of those unable to participate, and we make a conscious effort to align ourselves with the missing elements."

"That is not possible," Hikari, still quite bandaged, would scoff. "Only kitsune may create such a thing, and you four have no alignment or power. You would kill us all in the attempt."

"Besides," Kuro, the seven-tailed Kitsune of Dark, spoke for the first time since Sally had been here, "this is our affair. Non-kitsune need to stay out of our business."

"The point has long passed for this to _be_ exclusively your business," Sally retorted. "When non-kitsune begin to suffer and die, then it's time for others to step in and help. Now, last night, I worked out the elemental alignments of myself and my friends based on the missing slots. As for power…" Sally pulled something out from inside her vest and set it carefully on the table with a faint clinking sound.

"That is very pretty, Sally-hime, but what is it?" Iwamaru frowned at the large, golden metal circle that the princess had produced.

"It's a power ring," she explained. "It contains quite a large amount of energy that can be drawn out by living creatures and molded by its user. We often use one to boost Sonic's abilities at critical moments, but it's also been proven that they can be more versatile. If we use this at the ceremony, we should have a chance at success."

"And if you are wrong, Hanako, Kuro, Iwamaru, and Miles Prower risk death," Hikari argued. "Kitsune are a rare enough breed as it is, and we have already been forced to lessen our number by one."

Silence prevailed for a long, uncomfortable moment.

"I will trust in Sally-hime," Azami murmured calmly, taking a sip of his tea as though this conversation were perfectly ordinary.

"With all due respect, Azami-sama, you are not one whose life will be endangered," Iwamaru growled.

"If Azami-sama trusts her, then so do I," came a soft voice from normally timid Hanako, the four-tailed Kitsune of Wood. "Azami-sama is meant to _be_ trusted. Despite his humble three-tail status, our clan leader left him in charge of this house and the shrine. I would think that speaks greatly for him." She cast a quick, demure glance to Kuro, and for a moment, Sally was sure she saw something between them. Her suspicions only strengthened when the black kitsune immediately concurred.

"Very well, I too will trust in this foreigner," he said reluctantly.

Iwamaru sighed and looked at his fellow kitsune, finding himself outnumbered.

"Oh alright," the big fox grumbled. "May we all go to Hell together. Prower-san?"

"Huh?" Tails asked, coming out of his moody reverie. "Heh, you don't even have to ask me. My Aunt Sally is smart, if she says it'll work, then she's right. I'm not scared!"

"We've gone an' done crazier things, y'all," Bunnie grinned.

"Laying life and limb on ze line for mah princess is but duty!"

"Eh, I'm not gonna let some stupid rock hurt me," Sonic shrugged. "Count me in."

"Thank you, all of you,"Sally replied. "I will try to have my team ready by noon."

"Very well then," Azami nodded, smiling. "When you feel you are ready, we will be waiting."

-------------------------

"Alright," Sally paced slowly in front of Bunnie, Antoine, and Sonic. Sonic seemed distracted, and kept gazing off to where the kitsune had vanished with Tails after breakfast. "What you need to do is immerse yourself, mind and soul, into your assigned element. When the time comes, you need to direct it into the center of the circle. Sonic, you are best attuned to the power ring, so you will be the one to hold and channel it for the rest of us."

"Huh? Wha'?" Sonic blinked distantly at her. "Changing channels, got it."

"Sonic," Sally said softly. "We need you here. If you aren't focusing, it could be disaster."

"Sorry, Sal, I'm just worried about Tails," he admitted.

"I know you are, Sonic, but you have to focus. Things could get very dangerous otherwise. Now, when we begin, I want you all to…"

Sally's voice just trailed off into background noise for Sonic, his mind wandering back to Tails…

…who was suffering much the same trouble as Azami tried to instruct him. The older fox frowned, studying the kit a moment before kneeling to be closer to his level.

"This will not work, and you will bring your friends harm, if you cannot keep your mind on this very important task, little one."

"I'm sorry, I'm just…I don't know if…I mean…" Tails started and stopped, before finally blurting out in a desperate voice, "am I really one of you? It's real real important that I know where I belong!"

Azami laid his ears back at a gentle angle, triple tails curling around his knees as he settled on the ground proper, gazing up at the boy with those molten gold eyes.

"I cannot tell you for certain, Miles Prower, whether or not you are a true kitsune. A kitsune of our type does not come into the bulk of his or her powers until physical maturity begins. Until then, there is no foolproof way to identify a typical fox from our kind. Not even the possession of more than one tail is a certain kitsune trait, you will note that Iwamaru only has one tail. I have never before heard of a fox with multiple tails who was _not_ one of us, but I…how would your blue friend put it…I do not 'get out much'. The fact that you can fly, even before maturity, and your unusual golden coloration, both point to the high likelihood of you being a true kitsune, and a very powerful one at that. I am certain enough of this likelihood to gamble with the lives of other clan members in this spell. Now, as to your other statement…" Azami took a slow breath before continuing. "Little one, I cannot tell you where you belong. No one can. This is something you must decide for yourself. I will, however, tell you this; you will always be welcome in this residence. Even should you decide to return overseas with your friends, these doors will always be open to you."

"E-even if it turns out I'm not a real kitsune?" Tails asked in a wavering voice.

"Even if it turns out that you are a lizard," Azami said with such gravity that Tails just had to giggle a bit.

For some reason, Azami's words of unconditional welcome soothed Tails somewhat. He no longer felt such pressure for things to be exclusively one way or the other, for him to be forced to close one door in order to open another.

"I think I'm ready now, Azami-sama."

-------------------------

The bright, cheerful afternoon atmosphere was left behind as the shrine began to fill with solemn figures. Azami, Danica, and Hikari, unable to help with anything but the chant, would kneel sedately at a safe distance. Sally,the only one of the Freedom Fighters who could read the signs etched into the clay discs, would direct her friends to their places. Soon enough, her own boots would scuff softly against the engraved circle, and her heart crept up to lodge in her throat. So many things were going through her mind. What if she were wrong? What if they failed? How many of her friends would be harmed? How bad would it be? And then there was Tails, an innocent child under her care. How responsible was she to allow him to be a part of this? The thought was almost enough to make her turn back, to call it off right here and now.

Sonic smiled at her from his position several discs away. That familiar, self-assured smirk he was always so fond of showing her just before he did something reckless. Perhaps it was only that familiarity, but she found herself calming.

Kitsune and Freedom Fighter alike exchanged glances. It was now or never. They were just going to have to trust eachother, and hope this worked. Tails and Sonic were the only ones still avoiding one another's eyes.

The chant, a cyclical call to the eight elements, would begin. First with the kitsune, who knew the words, then as the newcomers picked up on it, they too would begin. Sonic clutched the power ring close with both hands, willing the energy out of it as he had so many times before, only this time, he did not channel it into himself, but rather back down through his body and into the disc he was standing on. From there, shimmering gold would flash out through the rope connecting them all, briefly infusing everyone, even the kitsune, with a warm glow.

Immerse, Sally had told them.

Bunnie had made an uneasy peace with her partially-roboticized body some time ago, but she could never have said that she was entirely comfortable being the way she was. In that moment, however, she tried to deepen that harmony between flesh and metal. She tried not to think of the cold, ominous metal of Robotropolis, but instead, she tried to reach back further, to the gleaming, beautiful spires and statues she remembered from her childhood, before the takeover. She took those memories of clean, bright art and fantastically wrought architecture and held it in her mind. She held those images, immersing herself in their wonder. Bunnie would not notice the liquid metal that began to seep up from under her feet, coiling upwards, forming into short-lived shapes and jags before melting away again.

Antoine's memories reached back even further the rabbot's, to early childhood and his native country of Mercia. His grandmother'd had a watermill that fascinated a then-tiny coyote. He would watch it for hours, the water of that clear, cool stream forever tumbling over the ancient wooden wheel, turning, turning, always turning. He'd been amazed at how gentle it had seemed, yet just beyond that ancient wood, it powered a mighty grinding stone that would pulverize anything placed upon it. The etched clay disc beneath Antoine would suddenly gush, twisting sheafs of water rising up around him.

Sally's mind turned to memories of her father's study. He liked to keep the windows open, and she remembered how sunlight would come pouring down to cut sharply through the darkness. She had thought for the longest time that the dust motes that shimmered in the sunbeams were tiny fairies. When those beglittered rays settled upon her father as he worked, she would often tell him, to his warm amusement, that he had fairies sparkling on his head. Brilliance erupted from Sally's disc, needles of light shooting towards the shrine ceiling.

Sonic's disk was the only one left. He tried. He really did. He tried to think of the many warm campfires that he had shared with his friends, or of fireside stories with his Uncle Chuck…but his mind flashed to other things. What were they doing here? Was Tails really going to be okay here? What if they all died right now? No! Fire, think fire!

A sudden, nauseating wrench threatened to bring him to his knees, and he felt unexpectedly weak and distant. The others felt it as well, to a lesser degree, and it was only growing worse. The spell was beginning to fall apart.

"Sonic!"

The painfully gasping hedgehog looked up at that familiar cry of concern. Tails was wreathed in hazy gales of wind, but those worried, wide blue eyes were as familiar as ever.

Tails. He was going to end up killing Tails if he didn't keep it together. Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine, too. He had to focus. His anger and fear were not worth risking failure. With all humor and bravado aside, this family he had constructed from his precious friends was all he had in the end. He couldn't let them down.

Sonic's disc finally flared to life, completing the circle. The Freedom Fighters abruptly felt a heady mixture of exhaustion and unexpected euphoria as the entire array pulsed in blinding, multicolored radiance.

The four would not remember at what point they had fallen in limp heaps upon the floor.

To be continued…


	8. Ninetails

Summary: With the creation of the purification stone a success, the only task left is to use it on the rampaging ninetails, who is not exactly eager to cooperate. Will the combined forces of Freedom Fighters and Kitsune Clan be enough to succeed, and bring peace to a beleaguered Enjou?

Canon Characters in this chapter: Sally, Sonic, Antoine, Bunnie, Tails

Non Canon Characters in this chapter: Everyone :D

Kitsune  
byWingedHippocampus

Chapter Eight: Ninetails

"Sonic," came a distant, saddened voice. "Sonic, wake up! Please!"

"Mugh," Sonic groaned, rolling over. "Don't wanna."

"He's fine, Tails," came a soft laugh from what sounded like Sally. "He just made out worse than we did, I think. It's going to take him a little longer to come around."

"But it's been almost two days! Come on, Sonic, wake up!"

"I'm up, I'm up!" The blue hedgehog sat up, rubbing his aching head. No sooner had he gotten himself upright than Tails knocked him right back down again, throwing his arms around him.

"Sonic, I was so worried!"

Sonic blinked, carefully hugging the distraught kit.

"It…it's okay, lil bro," he murmured, pulling him off to give him a little smile. All seemed forgiven, and all it had taken to get there was serious risk of death. "Is everyone okay?"

"A little rest, and we were all fine, except for you," Sally nodded, touching his hand lightly. "When you faltered, the energy started coming out of your own life force rather than the power of an element."

"So do the kitsune have their stupid rock?"

"Yes, they do, the spell was an unprecedented success. Azami says this has never worked quite this way before."

"Whoopdy doo, aren't we special, can we go home now?"

"I'm not leaving until I see the end of this, Sonic," Sally shook her head.

"You're telling me that I've been asleep for two days and these guys still haven't put down their monster?"

"It's not like they can just throw it at him, Sonic. The ninetails has to _swallow_ the kiyome ishi, and Azami won't allow anyone to attack him while he's so close to the settlements further down the mountain. They've been trying to lure him back here, to the shrine, where the kiyome ishi will have the most power and there will be little risk of harming civilians."

"Is that all they need? To get that thing over here? Heh. Get me some breakfast, and I'll take care of that in a Sonic Second!"

"How did I know you were going to say exactly that?" Sally smiled and shook her head. She had faith in Sonic, but he had been terribly drained and may not be in peak form. Nevertheless, he could probably do in minutes what the kitsune had failed to do in days. "Please, be careful. I'll let the kitsune know what you're up to. Try to get him to come to the open area before the shrine. We'll be waiting for him."

"Thanks, Sal!" Sonic would be gone in a blink, and Sally shook her head. Trust Sonic to go from comatose to sonic speed in about two minutes.

"Your blue friend left in quite a hurry," Azami said to Sally as she approached. "But it is wonderful to see he is feeling well again."

"Sonic only has one speed, really," Sally replied with a little smile. "Listen, Azami-sama, Sonic is going to lure your ninetails back here, so you had best prepare yourselves."

"You are not fearful that he may be caught by the beast?" Azami said in a worried voice. "Your friend is fast, but the ninetails has many powers at his disposal."

"Don't worry, Azami," Tails would reassure the older fox, his eyes shining with the confidence only a child could show. "Sonic _is_ the fastest thing alive."

-------------------------

It had taken another argument with Sally, but Tails had convinced her to let him gather before the shrine with the rest of them as they waited for Sonic's return. Azami gave the kit the very important but less dangerous task of standing on the sidelines, holding the cloth-wrapped purification stone until it was time to use it. Sally was armed with a borrowed sword, Antoine had his own, and Bunnie and Sonic did not need weapons. Most of the kitsune also had blades, except for the blind one, who had a pole arm.

The kitsune were grim and quiet. They knew the task ahead would not be easy, and that any of them could perish, even the ninetails they had tried so hard to save. Soon enough, they could all see a plume of rising dust in the near distance, growing rapidly closer and larger as it came up the mountain.

"Try not to seriously harm him," Azami instructed, "But do what you must to preserve yourselves. Sally-hime, you and yours do not have to help."

"I know," Sally nodded, "But if Tails is fighting, so are we. I sure hope you and the other two are careful, you're still pretty badly hurt from before. Do you have a plan?"

"I am afraid there is little strategy here. We must bring the ninetails down long enough to force the kiyome ishi down his throat. No mean task, I assure you. He will have all eight elements at his disposal, one stored in each tail, plus his own attained element, Spirit, in the ninth tail. If this tail touches you, you may be drained of life, so stay away from it at all costs. We will do our best to counter his elements with our own as he produces them, and in the meanwhile, we must all also avoid more mundane attacks from claws and fangs."

A blue streak sliced past Sally, ruffling her fur, just before Sonic gave a hearty shout.

"FOXZILLA INCOMING!"

The Freedom Fighters were not prepared for what came bursting violently through the trees. The monster was nearly as large as the shrine building itself, and looked less like a fox and more like a furry, white dragon, complete with wicked claws and rows of curving, dagger-like teeth. It immediately plunged after Sonic, and the Kitsune Clan scattered, attacking from all angles, trying to give the creature nowhere to run.

The ninetails's response was swift and vicious. Despite its size, it was incredibly fast, and it whipped its body about in a frenzy of raking claws, snapping teeth, and whipping tails.

Tails, watching from beneath a sturdy tree, had almost forgotten about the elements, but he was abruptly reminded as the earth began to tremble, knocking several combatants off their feet. The poor boy was forced to hang on to the trunk for dear life, a chasm beginning to split the lawn. Iwamaru did his best to counter, falling to place both hands on the ground, willing the earth to close before it swallowed anyone.

One of the beast's tails flashed gray, and the fur on it clumped together into long, metallic spears. A flick of that tail dislodged them and sent them screaming for the vulnerable Kitsune of Earth. Antoine would step right into their path, the shrine grounds ringing as his blade deflected spear after spear, directing them harmlessly into the trees and ground. The increasingly infuriated ninetails whipped its body around to try and snap up the coyote in its jaws, but Antoine was saved when Sonic knocked him aside.

"Hey, you oversized mutt, over here! OW!" The hedgehog rubbed his head and gave Danica a surprised look. "Why'd you hit me?!"

"That is still our clan leader, show some respect!" the blind kitsune snapped.

"Jeez, for someone who can't see, you sure did find my head quick," he grumbled.

"I do have four other senses, hedgehog. By the way, look out." Danica replied calmly, stepping aside as one of the kitsune's tails slammed down at Sonic. He began darting around the grounds, trying to keep its attention while the others worked at crippling its legs, that blue streak always just tantalizingly one step ahead.

The monster had apparently had enough, and it began to rain unnaturally hard, a veritable deluge coming down upon the hedgehog. It felt uncomfortably like drowning, and he couldn't breathe or see where he was going. Verging on panic, he was forced to slow down, and that was when he realized the ground he was on had turned to thick mud. Sonic was now stuck, knee deep and unable to run.

Hanako would come to rescue, thick, fibrous vines bursting from the muck to entangle the monster's legs in a sturdy network of vegetation.

For a moment, it looked like everything was over. The monster was thrashing, but seemingly helpless, its limbs bound to the ground. Several kitsune rushed forward to try and further immobilize it while Sally braved the mud to dig out Sonic's feet, and Tails would be called over with his precious bundle. He pulled away the cloth covering the kiyome ishi, multicolored light shining forth from the glass-like sphere in a sudden pulse of brilliance.

The monster screamed at that, a terrible sound rather like nails on a chalkboard backed by roars of thunder, his thrashing beginning anew. Tails was pulled protectively back by Sally as pillars of twisting flame broke through the already cracked ground, snarling their way towards an increasingly dark sky The restraining vines began to quickly burn and snap away, freeing the ninetails. It was Hanako who bore the brunt of its wrath now, and the four-tails was swept bone-breakingly hard to the ground by a sharp gust of elemental wind. She let out a fearful squeal as she realized she could never get up in time to avoid the enormous claw coming down to crush the life out of her.

Bunnie flashed between them, her body trembling as her mechanical arm strained to keep several tons of monster off the downed kitsune. Kuro cried out fearfully for his lover, sprinting for them.

"Hey, Tall, Dark an' Handsome, come get yer sweetheart, ah can't hold this forevuh!"

Kuro did not need to be told twice; he swept up the injured female and vanished into the shadows to see to her. Bunnie shoved the claw aside and scrambled away from it before it could retaliate, her escape helped along by Hikari, who brought lightning down on the creature to keep it from chasing the rabbit.

"We're not making any progress, and people are getting hurt!" Sally cried as she found herself near Azami and Sonic. "It's too powerful, it will wear us down long before we can do the same to it!"

"Gimmee the rock, Tails, I'll take care of this!" Sonic snatched away the purification stone against a protest from Sally and streaked up one of the ninetail's legs, heading for its muzzle. What he hadn't expected was for the earlier rain to have made the oily fur so slippery, and he lost his footing on the steep neck. Sonic found himself falling, and unable to change direction in midair, he could only watch helplessly as those teeth came for him.

Then he found himself flying, a familiar grip on his arm, as he was pulled away from the incoming daggers.

"Tails!"

"You're too heavy, Sonic, I can't carry you for long!" the kit grunted, nearly crash-landing into Sally. He then stood, brushing away mud and soot. "I can fly, you should let me give it a try! You can't dodge him, but I don't need the ground to be able to move! How else are we gonna reach his head?"

"I don't know, Tails, that thing's mondo dangerous," he shook his head.

"I know he is, and I'm scared, real scared, but if we work together, all of us, I think we can do it. Aunt Sally, you're good at plans, what do we do?"

"Well," Sally rubbed at her arm, frowning at the idea of putting Tails in so much danger, but what choice did she have?

Moments later, the plan would be in action. Sonic would be used as a messenger to spread the word amidst the busily battling kitsune and coordinate the attack. The scattered kitsune and Freedom Fighters would gather, forming a broad semicircle. The ninetails lunged for them, seeing what it thought was a set of easy targets.

Azami, Kitsune of Fire, and Danica, Kitsune of Water, would leap into action to create a wall of thick steam to hide the others behind. The confused ninetails snapped at the vaporous tendrils, and found itself unable to see its targets. Attempts to follow them by sound were thwarted by Iwamaru causing the ground to rumble, and attempts to sniff them out were rendered useless by a sudden burst of irritating pollen from an apparently recovered Hanako. The creature was deprived of nearly all senses, and it writhed in helpless fury, striking randomly into the mist.

"Now, before it uses wind to clear this!" Sally cried. "Go, Tails!"

Tails would fly as fast and hard as he could through the fog, locking in on the writhing silhouette of the monster. The angry beast roared, and the wind that Sally had feared would blast into the little fox, nearly knocking him from the air. The kiyome ishi was dislodged from his hands, and bitter desperation washed over him. This had all been for nothing.

"The stone!!" Tails screamed as the bright sphere plummeted into the remains of the fog. Instead of going for the kit, the ninetails slapped a claw for the kiyome ishi, intending to destroy the irritating object.

"I'm on it!" Sonic cried, dashing over to catch it before the monster could smash it. He had the beast's full attention now, and it began to chase him. "Hey, Antoine! Catch!"

"What?!" the coyote squeaked, but he did catch the shining stone. The ninetails was now after _him_.

"Antoine, ovuh hea'!" Bunnie waved to him from amidst tendrils of mingling smoke and mist. Antoine nodded and rolled the sphere onto the flat of his sword, bouncing it once before whipping the blade to send the object flying. Bunnie easily caught it in her flesh hand, then she transferred it to her robotic hand to be able to pitch it the distance to Sally. The ninetails was quickly getting confused, and was now standing still, trying to get a bead on the now constantly moving kiyome ishi.

"Sonic!" Sally cried, throwing the stone back. Things had come full circle, and Sonic spun his arm, grinning up at a hovering Tails.

"Here you go, lil bro!" he cried as the thing was thrown back to its original carrier. "Good luck!"

There was no turning back for Tails now. He gave the hedgehog a grin and a jaunty salute before making off for the monster once more. The light gained the ninetails's attention, and it snapped for him, intending to tear both kit and stone between those awful rows of teeth. Tails did not even try to move away, and the jaws closed over him.

To be continued…


	9. Farewell

Summary: The Freedom Fighters get the chance to meet the sane version of the Kitsune Clan's leader, and they finally say goodbye to the country of Enjou.

Canon Characters in this chapter: Sonic, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Sally

Non Canon Characters in this chapter: Kokoro

Kitsune  
by WingedHippocampus  
Chapter Nine: Farewell

"MILES!" Sally shrieked, and even Sonic suddenly felt a wrench of fear as the kit vanished between the monster's jaws. What had Tails been thinking?!

The ninetails went perfectly still, apparently frozen down to its last hair. Then it suddenly threw its head back in a ground-shaking shriek, and up and down its entire length, a black, viscous fluid began to ooze from amidst the fur, quickly turning the white coat black. A horrible smell filled the air, causing the Kitsune Clan to cough and cringe away. The Freedom Fighters knew that smell intimately, recognizing it at first whiff. It was the same vile stench that pervaded Robotropolis, all the chemicals and pollutants and long stagnant air. Wave upon wave of contamination was pouring right out of the ninetails's body, chased out by the power of the purification stone. The oozing ceased, everything hardening, and glowing white lines crept out along the monster, a net of brilliance amidst the near-fluid dark.

Then the ninetails shattered. It broke into so many hollow pieces, and just like some brittle clay figure, it collapsed in on itself. Silence prevailed for a few shocked moments.

"Tails!" Sonic was first to make a move, plunging right into the vast jumble of solidified pollution to search for his friend. Within seconds, the others were helping, even the kitsune.

"I'm over here," Tails's voice was a bit shaky as he lifted his head out of the pile of oily black shards, coughing. "I'm okay. Since I can fly, I could dodge the teeth as they came down, so he didn't hurt me. I just ended up in the back of his throat and got swallowed is all."

"That's _all_," Sally cried in exasperation, sweeping the dusty boy up into a grateful hug and covering his face with kisses. "Oh don't you ever do that again, do you hear me?"

"I am theenking thees mad ninetails business ees not happening often," Antoine chuckled, relieved.

"Thank goodness, this's been fun an' all, but ah think ah'm ready t' go home," Bunnie nodded.

"Look!" Tails pointed as Azami and the others pulled a limp but breathing figure from the rubble.

-------------------------

His name was Kokoro.

Kokoro was the highly revered leader of the Kitsune Clan, the oldest and most powerful kitsune among them, and the only existing ninetails, at least, until he died.

The next day, the ninetails was still so weak that Miyuki would not allow him to leave his bed, so the rest of the Kitsune Clan and the Freedom Fighters would instead gather in his spacious bedchambers, all kneeling in proper respect. Everyone who had been injured was now treated, and the evening had passed quietly despite the massive destruction just outside the residence.

"We have much to thank you for, all of you," he began, his voice soft and weak. This had been quite an ordeal for the old fox. "I do not know how we can ever repay you."

"I do," Sally said, to the surprise of her fellow Freedom Fighters as much as the kitsune. "I know exactly how you can repay us, and repay the people of this land, those who you have brought harm to. This happened, in part, because you kitsune tried to take care of Robotnik's damage yourselves. You've spent so long shutting out other Mobians that you can't seem to lift your xenophobia even for something so important. Robotnik's activities affect everyone who lives here, not just you, and in the end, he affects all of Mobius. This is a threat that must be fought by everyone as a team, the world as one."

Sally's harsh words were met by shocked stares from most of the kitsune. Kokoro, however, only nodded calmly and asked her to continue.

"This house and shrine are in a very defensible position, and can hold far more people than what actually live here. The Kitsune Clan is made up of well-trained fighters, I've seen this for myself. You can use this knowledge of martial arts to train non-kitsune from the surrounding villages. Open your doors to anyone who wants to take a stand against Robotnik. Train them, nurture them, protect them, and fight alongside them in your resistance efforts against this common threat. It will be far more effective than trying to go it alone, and in the meantime, you can offer sanctuary to those suffering under Robotnik's rule. In short, Kokoro-sama, you can repay us by creating and running a Freedom Fighter base here in Enjou."

"Your words have wisdom, and my ordeal has shown me the error of our ancient but misguided ways," Kokoro, much to the shock of his clan, immediately agreed, rather than reprimanding her for her straightforwardness. "I have much to atone for, and that seems a fine place to begin. It shall be done, Sally-hime."

"Thank you, Kokoro-sama," Sally smiled, bowing her head.

"Now, as to the young Kitsune of Wind," the old fox stroked his long, slender beard and shifted slightly to look over at Tails. "It seems we owe him much as well. I have heard much of you already. With such bravery, intellect, and ability at such a young age, you would make a proud addition to this house."

"I…I don't know that I'm who you think I am, sir," Tails said, fidgeting. "But if it turns out that I'm the Kitsune of Wind, I'll come back in a few years, and let you train me. For now, I think I'd like to stay…" he looked up at Sonic, Sally, Bunnie and Antoine, and even Azami, giving them a smile, "…I'd like to stay with my family."

"Very well, little one, it shall be as you say," he nodded, smiling a bit himself. Tails thought he saw that same kind of warmth in Kokoro's eyes as he had seen in Azami's, and he felt quite comfortable.

-------------------------

"Nice of 'em t' let us keep th' dinner clothes," Bunnie grinned over at Sally as they began to leave the Kitsune no Kami shrine behind. They had made new friends, gained the respect of the Kitsune Clan, and established a new point of resistance against Robotnik. All in all, it had been a productive week. "Y' sure y' don't wanna keep yours, Sally-girl?"

"I can't possibly think of any occasion I could wear a junihitoe in Knothole, I would look ridiculous," Sally replied, rolling her eyes. She had politely declined taking the junihitoe, but Miyuki had gifted her with some expertly made salves, and Hanako had given her seeds from which rare medicinal plants would grow.

"What are you talking about, you looked ridiculous wearing it here, too!" Sonic said helpfully, earning himself a sharp glare.

"Sonic, ah see you an' Antoine came outta this with souvenirs, too," Bunnie observed.

"Oui, ma belle, but eet ees wort' haveeng zese at home. New knowledge weel keep enemies on zere toes, no?" Antoine was cheerfully burdened, carrying a pair of bamboo practice swords Azami had called 'shinai', two wooden ones called 'bokken', and an ancient set of beautifully made swords involving both katana and kodachi.

"What've you got there, Sonic?" Bunnie pointed to a mysterious container he was carrying atop his folded kimono.

"Wasabi, and lots of it!" Sonic grinned.

"I think it's wonderful that you're discovering foods other than chili dogs, Sonic," Sally said.

"What are you talking about? The wasabi is going_ on_ the chili dogs!"

"Oh, Sonic," Sally groaned and just moved on ahead. "Miyuki said there is a man near the coast who has fuel we can use in the plane, I'd like to get there before dark."

"Yeah yeah." Sonic smirked and looked over at Tails, who had been silent. "You okay, Tails? Having second thoughts or something?"

"No, Sonic," the fox kit smiled up at him. "I'm fine."

"Well, did you ever figure out who you are and all that?"

"I did, Sonic. I now know exactly who I am," Tails said as he reached to take Sonic's hand.

"Yeah?"

"I'm your lil bro."

"Yeah, you are," Sonic replied, giving the child's hand a little squeeze. "Hey, race you back down the mountain!"

"You're on!"

The other three watched hedgehog and fox as the two bolted out of sight, banks of rich autumn leaves coiling in their wake.

All was right with their little world.

The End

So ends my first –completed- serial fanfiction.

I REALLY wanted to throw in a hint that Tails might, in a thousand years, (it takes a thousand years for a kitsune to grow nine tails) become the new Ninetails and Kitsune Clan Leader, but for one thing, I couldn't figure out where to put it without interrupting the flow, and for another, I'm supposed to be leaving it up to the reader as to whether or not Tails is really a legendary Kitsune.

Me? Oh yeah. Totally. I mean seriously, here comes this gold-colored, multitailed fox with strange abilities in a game that came from a country where legends of multitailed foxes with strange abilities, and who are usually in gold, silver, or white, abound. I think mystic Kitsune is –exactly- what the creators were going for. BUT. Draw your own conclusions, I left everything nice and open. (I'm still going to draw Tails as a Ninetails later, though, whee!) Oh yeah, speaking of drawings, each and every one of these chapters is illustrated, but I couldn't get any links to work. There's a link to my DeviantArt page in my profile. If you're interested in the illustrations, just click on the picture that is entitled 'Donguri no Okoku: TOC' and there will be a list with links to the art.


End file.
